R. Kelly’s Ex-Wife Details Abuse Allegations in New Interview

Andrea Kelly, who was married to the singer from 1996 to 2009, first came forward with allegations in June

R. Kelly, photo by Scott Legato/Getty Images

Andrea Kelly, the woman who was married to R. Kelly from 1996 to 2009, has come forward with new details behind her allegations of domestic violence during their relationship, ABC News reports. She appeared on “The View” to discuss the physical abuse she allegedly suffered, including a time she claimed he attacked her in the back of a Hummer. “I thought I was gonna die,” she said, claiming that his forearm was pressed into her neck while he held her down. “I said ‘Robert, you’re going to kill me. I can’t breathe’.” Watch the interview below.

Andrea detailed another alleged incident where she claimed he forcibly tied her up following an argument. “He had his knee in my back and he took both of my arms around me, tied them, and then attached my legs to my arms,” she said. “He hogtied me and left me on the side of the bed and he actually fell asleep, and that’s the only way I got away.” She also discussed the suicide attempt that brought her to filing for a divorce.

When asked why she decided to speak up after 10 years of being divorced from Kelly, Andrea claimed she was inspired after seeing another of Kelly’s alleged victims on a talk show describing her own claims of abuse. “Some of the things she had described in detail, I had been through, I mean, verbatim,” she said. Andrea has previously spoken with the parents of Joycelyn Savage, who claim their daughter has been brainwashed by Kelly and is being held as part of his “cult.”

Elsewhere in the interview, she talked about the 2002 sex tape that brought R. Kelly to trial and the effect it had on their three children together. She also brought up the abuse he experienced as a child, which he detailed in his 2013 memoir Soulacoaster. “I understand that that’s what you went through, but that does not give you a pass or an excuse,” she said. “Because you were abused does not mean you get to be an abuser.”

Kelly is currently facing allegations of sexual abuse from multiplewomen, as well as allegations that he’s behind a “sex cult” that controls the lives of several women. In July, Kelly released a 19-minute song called “I Admit” denying these allegations.